The Richmond Circuit Court on December 14 upheld the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Biosolids Regulations against the Potomac/Shenandoah Riverkeeper’s legal challenge. The Court found there was substantial evidence to support the State Water Control Board’s decision to approve the amendments. The Board was aided by the report of the Expert Panel, which found that “no evidence or literature verified a causal link between biosolids and illness,” and “as long as biosolids are applied in conformance with all state and federal law and regulations, there is no scientific evidence of any toxic effect to soil organisms, plants grown in treated soils, or to humans (via acute effects or bio-accumulation pathways) from inorganic trace elements (including heavy metals) found at the current concentrations in biosolids.”

According to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report on biosolids prepared in 2017, “localities indicated that their monitoring programs are valuable to them because they allow them to